The Arsenal Ladies Football Club are in Seattle, Washington for an international friendly match with the Seattle Reign FC on May 26, 2016. Arsenal America’s Branch in Seattle, the Cascadia Gooners were invited to a Meet & Greet Session at the close of the last training session in Seattle prior to the match on May 25th.
Arsenal cruise past a mediocre West Brom side at home before stuttering at the Stadium of Light in a nil-nil draw that leaves the door to the Top Four open for Manchester United. Returning guest Elliot Smith is on hand to help us distinguish between intentional and haphazard squad building and help identify the identity Wenger’s side needs to achieve, plus Invincibles vs Norwich prize trivia…
Jump out of that Kaboul challenge and skip on over to iTunes, the raw RSS feed or our archive to get the new podcast. For more information please visit Arsenal Review USA.
Ohio hosted their first statewide meet up the weekend of April 15-17 in Columbus. Organized by Arsenal America’s three official Ohio branches, Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati Gooners, over 70 passionate fans converged on the Buckeye state capital for an epic football-filled weekend that included Saturday’s Columbus Crew SC/New York City FC match and Arsenal’s Sunday match vs. Crystal Palace.
The festivities kicked off Friday evening with a happy hour at Barley Brewing Company, hosted by the Columbus Gooners. As Gooners from around Ohio, as well as friends from outside Ohio, including the Arsenal Detroit and Chicago Gooners, made their way into town, you could feel the excitement that this was going to be a fun and historic weekend. Gooners enjoyed the craft beer selections and made their way into the game room for some old school arcade style fun.
Saturday’s events started early with EPL matches at Hendoc’s Pub, Columbus Gooner’s home in OSU’s campus district. Any Gooner would feel right at home with all the Arsenal flags, signs, and scarfs that decorate the walls of the bar. The afternoon also included a bit a friendly foosball competition between old “Battle of Ohio” enemies, Cincinnati and Cleveland (Cleveland prevailed!).
Saturday afternoon we made our way to MAPFRE Stadium for a massive pre-match tailgate with our Gooners and the Hudson Street Hooligans, one of the largest supporter groups for the Columbus Crew SC. The weather was perfect as it was sunny and mid-70’s, awesome football weather!
The Columbus Crew’s 2016 campaign has started off slowly and we were hoping to see our first home victory. Saturday evening’s match did not disappoint as the Crew netted three goals for a final 3-2 decision over NYCFC, including midfielder Ethan Finlay’s first goal of the season.
Sunday morning came early with many Gooners recovering enough from the previous night’s fun to head back to Hendoc’s to catch the Leicester City/West Ham United 2-2 draw leading up to the main event as our Gunners battled it out with Crystal Palace. By the start of our match, Hendoc’s was packed with fans ready for action.
Throughout the match special giveaways were featured by our three Ohio branches and, not to be outdone, Hendoc’s created a special craft beer list featuring some of the finest brews currently out of Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland. A 50/50 raffle raised money for our weekend’s charity partner, the Columbus Crew Foundation.
“It was quite something to come together for this awesome weekend” said Jason Lansdale, of the Cleveland Gooners. “We see these guys and gals from time to time at other meet ups and during Crew matches, but it’s something else to have our three Ohio groups work together to pull something of this caliber off to support our Gunners!”
“We’ve been working to get this event together for months now and I’m so proud of how well it came off. One of the best things about being a supporter is the sense of community that we build together and it’s very cool to see that expand to Gooners from around the Midwest. This is going to become one of my favorite dates on the calendar each year.” said David Keim of the Cincinnati Gooners.
Outside our three Ohio branches, we would be remiss without giving some special thanks to the following individuals who helped make this weekend a reality: Katie Mitchell of the Columbus Gooners for her help with Columbus Crew ticket logistics; Branch Managers Somer Mager (Columbus), David Keim (Cincinnati), and Sean Medina (Cleveland); Jason Gillette of the Cleveland Gooners for all his excellent graphics and design skills; a special thank you to our new friends who travelled in from Detroit and Chicago; and lastly, a HUGE thank you to Jon Winland of the Columbus Gooners and owner of Hendoc’s Pub for being an outstanding host!
Until our next Ohio GoonerFest, COYG!
The pressures of playing at home prove to be too much yet again for Arsenal as they again drop points from a winning position, this time to bottom of the table strugglers Crystal Palace. We’ll discuss un-winning mentalities, overuse the word “microcosm” and debate whether or not Gooners can be sent to Hell for wishing for a Sp*rs Premiership title before turning our attention to the good old days of Arsenal’s Invincibles, the shifting North American scouting network and how to get Arsene Wenger to write the foreword in your book with former Arsenal player and current Arsenal scout Danny Karbassiyoon, whose own account of highs and lows while playing for Arsenal are fleshed out in his new title The Arsenal Yankee, which comes out in early May.
Arsene Wenger’s squad embraces its inner Arsene Wenger squad as the Gunners throw away a golden lead at the Boleyn Ground and all but seal their Premiership fate. Helping us talk defense, attempt to spell defense and just get existential about the very possibility of any relationship between Arsenal and defense will be Sam Limbert of Sam’s Match Reports, plus the “Idiot Zone” explained, tips to dealing with abnormally tall men and Yellow Card Drought prize trivia…
Admit it, you can’t keep us out any better than Arsenal can keep out Andy Carroll: really let your podcast standards go by downloading the new episode via iTunes, the raw RSS feed or our archive. For more information please visit Arsenal Review USA.
Gooners,
The summer is almost here, which means The Arsenal will so be back on American soil! Our members will have exclusive access to tickets both for the MLS All Star Game in San Jose, as well as the friendly vs Chivas Guadalajara in Los Angeles. Ticket information is coming very soon! However, you must be a paid 2016/17 season member for access to our allocation in the Arsenal supporters section.
To join, please click the membership link above. Be sure to select your local Arsenal America branch affiliation, as $3 of your member fees will go back to the local branch. Once a member, we will email you with the latest and up to date ticket information as we get it. You can also find information via our social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Thanks again for visiting the new ArsenalAmerica.com! We’ll see you this summer in California! COYG!!
NOTE: Our tickets for the MLS All Star game have already SOLD OUT to members. We still have tickets for the match in Los Angeles vs Chivas. Join today to purchase those tickets.
The rot continues in a demoralizing home loss to bottom-dwellers Swansea before Arsenal’s 10 men rally to salvage a point at White Heart Lane and earn a result that may just suggest there’s some fight left in them. Helping us search for midfield stability and discuss the positives evident in new signings and LANS’ alike will be returning guest Garry Bowman aka the Twin Cities Gooner, plus our new trivia will center around those FA Cup darlings Hull City (we get to play them again!) and we air our grievances with histrionic commentators…
Celebrate not losing by getting the new podcast from iTunes, the raw RSS feed or from our archive. For more information please visit Arsenal Review USA.
Arsenal bomb out of two major crunch matches against an excellent Barcelona at home then a cut-rate Manchester United away to cast serious doubt over the squad’s collective leadership qualities, not to mention its title-winning credentials. Helping us gauge this squad’s comeback-ability, motivational sources and anything else that could possibly help them not completely implode will be friend of the show Martin Tomlinson, plus suggested alternatives to your usual dose of Arsenal negativity and some err, not-so positive Sp*rs assist prize trivia…
Get the fun-filled podcast episode everyone’s clamoring for! Available on iTunes, the raw RSS feed or our archive. Please visit Arsenal Review USA for more information.
Arsenal get the business done against Dinamo Zagreb in midweek Champions League action before squandering some more valuable Premiership points as they let Norwich City draw level at Carrow Road.
Costly injuries, threadbare positional cover in certain areas and lackluster front lines — so all good things — are the topics du jour as we get Elliot Smith’s/Yankee Gunner’s thoughts on the last seven days of Arsenal craziness, plus we survey Ryan Bennett’s sad little slice of social media real estate and break out the “Knockout-Stage-Or-Bust” trivia contest…
We had like, six download locations ready to go, but after three got injured you can now only download the new pod from iTunes, the raw RSS feed or our archive. For more information please visit Arsenal Review USA.
Upstate New York kicked off its inaugural GOONERFEST with tremendous fashion in Rochester, NY for this past weekend’s match against Stoke City on September 12th. Gooners from around the region (Rochester, Buffalo, Ithaca, and Syracuse) converged at one of Arsenal America’s newest officially backed establishments, Brickwood Grill. Brickwood’s instantaneous and whole-hearted embrace of the ROC Gooners this offseason was almost as significant as the acquisition of our newly beloved Petr Cech and his magic hat! It’s owner, Jeff, and his staff have been nothing short of fantastic in helping to promote and expand Rochester’s AA chapter, ROC Gooners. ROC Gooners quickly gave Brickwood an Arsenal makeover hanging a plethora of flags, scarves of other AA chapters from around the country, and, the piéce de resistance, a kit signed by The Invincibles that was generously donated by one of our own, Taggard Andrews. With Brickwood decked out in Arsenal colors, any Gooner that stumbles in would feel right at home upon entering its threshold.
GOONERFEST was destined to be a smashing success from the start. After last season’s visit to Buffalo, NY at Mes Que, the ROC Gooners brass was dead set on getting Upstate New York’s Gunner faithful together for an annual bash at our new home, Brickwood Grill. With two gigantic ROC Gooners flags adorning Brickwood’s front windows, you could feel the excitement by simply driving past on Monroe Avenue.
Brickwood’s mahogany walls rang with raucous songs that could have been heard at the Clock End in North London from the minute Gooners started piling in. Voices from 4 cities created a chorus urging on the Mighty Arsenal to a hard fought 2-0 victory over Stoke. Theo Walcott’s deft touch in the 31st resulted in an eruption of elation as many Gooners from across Upstate New York celebrated arm in arm. As the whistle signaled for halftime, the newly formed Upstate NY Gooner family gathered for a photo with the Arsenal America banner, the GOONERFEST banner, and scarves and other flags to document the joyous occasion. Once thrust onto social media by @ROCGooners, the “family portrait” was seen and quickly shared by none other than NBC Sports Network.
Throughout the match, several giveaways and specialty taps, including Fuller’s London Pride, ensured Gooners from all over left with more than a victory and a smile. Along with the giveaways, the ROC Gooners had t-shirts, stickers, scarves, pennants, and more available to any in need of ROC Gooners swag. As the second half came to a close, Olivier Giroud found the back of the net in the 85th and the Gooners of Upstate New York filled the air with songs of victory.
This epilogue would be remiss without mentioning the outstanding service and hospitality of Brickwood Grill and it’s staff. GOONERFEST would have remained a pipedream instead of a reality without them. Also, a special thank you to the Gooners of Buffalo, Syracuse, and Ithaca for making the trip to the Flower/Flour City in support of our beloved boys in red. ROC Gooners can’t wait for the next GOONERFEST!
Victoria Concordia Crescit.
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